


Touch the northern lights

by soggywormcircus



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, it's just Ted thinking about Charlotte really, this barely has a Plot or a Point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 12:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21118442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soggywormcircus/pseuds/soggywormcircus
Summary: It’s not that Charlotte is constantly laughing whenever she’s with Ted. Hell, they’re probably fighting more than they do anything else, which is a fact that makes Ted feel nothing whatsoever.But still, there are moments that break the pattern they’ve set so nicely the past few months.





	Touch the northern lights

**Author's Note:**

> So I really sold my soul to this ship that is 100% doomed to have a sad ending and that also has like four shippers in total. If you're one of them, enjoy.

‘I’m worried about Charlotte,’ Paul says that day. They’re in the breakroom, Paul just returned from getting coffee. There’s that subtle flush on his cheeks he always gets from his visits at Beanies that Ted pretends not to notice. Charlotte isn’t with them; she’s at home sick. No one but Ted knows that. He doesn’t look up from his phone when Paul starts talking. 

‘What makes you say that, Paul?,’ Bill is asking. Paul shrugs in response. ‘It’s just a feeling,’ he says vaguely. ‘I mean, when was the last time you saw her laugh? Or smile, even?’ 

Silence falls around them, then. Ted glances up from his phone for a second but when Bill is answering, he’s already zoned out of the conversation. He’s thinking about something else. 

It’s true - what Paul said. Charlotte hasn’t smiled around the office for a while. She hasn’t laughed in much longer. Around the office, that is. 

Ted supposes that she doesn’t smile much at home either; there can’t be much about Sam to smile about. He wonders if Sam even knows what it’s like, hearing Charlotte laugh. Not a small and careful laugh that you can barely hear, but a full and complete one, head tilted back and eyes closed. 

Ted wonders if Sam knows what he’s missing. 

It’s not that Charlotte is constantly laughing whenever she’s with Ted. Hell, they’re probably fighting more than they do anything else, which is a fact that makes Ted feel nothing whatsoever. 

But still, there are moments that break the pattern they’ve set so nicely the past few months. Quiet moments just after sex, with both of them sharing a cigarette, sitting way too close. Short pieces of conversation that go nowhere, and sometimes, just sometimes, Charlotte stays the night. 

Ted tries to avoid this as often as he possibly can. It's dangerous, and it's terrifying. He finds it incredibly hard to wake up next to Charlotte. Curled up beside him, still asleep. It's so strangely domestic. And it hurts. 

Every time Charlotte stays the night, she insists on making breakfast. Ted figures it's because she feels guilty, which is something else he feels absolutely nothing about and which he avoids thinking about for no reason at all. 

These mornings are the most dangerous because it has nothing to do with their usual arrangement. It's the fine line, the moment where they forget what they are supposed to be and almost become something different. It's moments like these, when he's sitting across from Charlotte and they eat in silence and then leave for work, when Ted is about to forget himself. 

When Ted thinks maybe he can take the step he shouldn't want to take. That maybe if he asked Charlotte, she would say yes. 

He almost has to laugh whenever the idea crosses his mind. The thought of Charlotte leaving her husband to be with someone like Ted - this is usually where he has to stop himself. Because it's not just fucking ridiculous. It also hurts too much. And that's the part Ted hates the most. 

It's not like he's in love with Charlotte or whatever. He's just lonely, and yeah, that might be driving him a little crazy. 

And so what if he likes the way Charlotte laughs. There's nothing romantic about that. It's a nice sound. A sound he wishes he could hear more often. And if he lets her stay a night or a morning to try and hear it, whatever. Doesn't mean anything.

Bill and Paul are still talking about Charlotte. Ted stares at his blank phone screen, and says nothing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe she suffers for the thrill of it all, but I know she's thinking when she falls,
> 
> I want to touch the northern lights, we can leave the world behind.  
I want to know what it's like, to walk away from this life.
> 
> And maybe one day when I've suffered, tired and twisted, I'll call her,  
and we'll drive, into the sunset, into the sunset.
> 
> Northern Lights by Jaymes Young
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
